Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Rises But Economy Expands

Massachusetts’ monthly unemployment rate ticked up in September, from 5.8 percent to 6 percent, and is now higher than the national average unemployment rate of 5.9 percent. However, experts attribute the rise to more than 15,000 workers entering the job market and say that, combined with the addition of 9,400 jobs, is a good sign for the Massachusetts economy.

Other positive signs for the local job market:

Massachusetts has added jobs in four of the past five months and more than 60,000 jobs in the last year.

In addition to 9,500 retail jobs that were added to the local economy last month (mainly attributed to the end of the Market Basket dispute), jobs were also added in the information services, leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, financial services, and construction sectors.